Terracotta tile repair

Hi there!

We purchased a house that is the epitome of a fixer upper. Case in point is our kitchen tiles. The previous owner did not seal the tiles in any way and thus the tiles are absolutely filthy. I've spent about three days and 10 different cleaning products attempting to make some headway. Unfortunately, I think they're just too damaged. They aren't the ideal for our style/colour preferences either but replacing them seems light an expensive nightmare.

Any suggestions on what can be done? Someone said I might be able to paint over them but other things I've read says no. Would love to change the colour and hide all the damage if possible.

Sorry about the dogs in the photo it was the best view of the kitchen floor I had on hand.

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

if the grout is what you are attempting to clean did you use grout cleaner? It's got a bit of acid in it and will really get the grime up. If the tiles were not glazed it might help but suspect they might be too far gone if never sealed.

 

While I've painted terracotta tile that was used on fireplace surrounds and hearths, I've never done so on a room floor and wouldn't expect it to wear well. You might be able to use a stain and then seal it. Clean as well as you can and be sure to remove any cleaner residue! I had terracotta tile in my dining rm when I lived in fla. I didn't have time to go and buy the correct sealer so I used polyurethane - it still looked good when I sold the place 5 yrs later.

btw - welcome to the forums!

 

PMMarq1 - I was trying to clean the whole tiles. Some of them look better than before (I'll get a photo soon) but they still look pretty average. They've definitely never been sealed. The whole place is basically someone starting a job and never finishing it

PMmarksr - That gives me some hope. Did you use a specific type of paint? I saw suggestions elsewhere to use an oil based primer and then enamel/water based paint and then seal it with urethane.

I've also been looking at tile and paver paints but I don't know if those would work. All the paver/driveway paints/sealers are all about deep seal & high traffic areas but I don't know if the concept is the same/the paint would hold.

Thanks for your advice guys

 

On the fireplace hearths/surrounds I just used an enamel undercoater and top coated with the same paint that I used on the woodwork in the house. I'd be leery of painting terracotta tile that would regularly be walked on. I wouldn't have a lot of concern with applying most any stain [wood or concrete] and then covering it with a coat or two of floor poly.

Tile paints generally have a poor track record when used on a floor over ceramic tile but might do ok over your unsealed terracotta.

 

what you have is mexican satillo tile. it was sealed before grouting at least 3 times (it is highly absorbant tile) over time the sealer wore off (it needs resealed often) after dirt and scratches get in it, its very difficult to remove, you might try a acid wash using sulfamic crystals or muratic acid diluted (please be carefull and follow directions) satillo tile requires a special sealer made just for this kind of tile. on a side note, i've seen alot worse after the sealer ewore off

 

Thanks so much marksr! That's really helpful.

a tile guy - I can't believe that there's worse. It's so bad. I'll see what I can do regarding the cleaning. I'll check on sourcing a sealer as well.